Hundreds of adult Catholics will be confirmed in November after participating in sacramental preparation programs tailored to their life experiences and thirst for spiritual growth, organizers said.
At least two such programs exist. One, run by the Office of Lifelong Formation, will see more than 200 people from its English-language program confirmed at Queen of All Saints Basilica on Nov. 6, with 70 people from its Spanish-language program to be confirmed Nov. 17 at St. Augustine Parish in Midlothian.
Another 58 people will be confirmed Nov. 5 at St. Edna Parish in Arlington Heights, which runs an adult confirmation program for Vicariate I.
“We have ages from 18 to 72,” said Lorie Crepeau, director of adult faith formation at St. Edna Parish. “We have every generation, and that happens every single year. There are people who have been away from the church who want to return to the church who realize there’s something missing in their life.”
Kathy McNicholas, senior coordinator for marriage and sacramental formation for the archdiocese, agreed.
In years past, both leaders said, more candidates sought confirmation because a priest told them they needed the sacrament to get married in the church or to serve as a godparent or confirmation sponsor for a family member or friend.
Recently, it’s been different, said McNicholas, who started doing adult confirmation preparation in her vicariate years ago before starting the archdiocesan effort.
“People are looking for a different way as an adult to engage in their Catholic faith in a meaningful way that helps to change their life,” McNicholas said. “They’re saying, ‘I want to give my Catholic faith a chance.’”
What’s more, she said, that applies even to people looking to be confirmed so that they can be married in the church.
“You think you’re doing this to get married in the church, but that isn’t true,” she said. “You are doing this because Christ is calling you. Because otherwise, you would go get married in Hawaii or somewhere.”
Both programs operate along similar lines, meeting once a week for about two months. Each session includes videos on two topics, followed by small-group discussions led by facilitators. St. Edna’s program is offered both in-person and over Zoom; the archdiocesan program, which started when COVID-19 restrictions were in effect, is entirely over Zoom.
“Candidates, who are mostly of a different generation than me, tell us that they are more comfortable talking about spiritual and personal issues through a screen than if they were sitting in a room with the facilitators,” McNicholas said.
The program is shorter than Order of Christian Initiation for Adults preparation, she said, because participants are already baptized and have had their first Communion, so they have a background in the Catholic faith.
Participants are often surprised that the program is more about delving into their own experience of faith than memorizing information.
“The whole small-group process is about them doing the talking, them doing the engagement,” McNicholas said. “It’s very different than with adolescents. They talk about what their faith means. It totally shifts the engagement they have with their faith.”
Crepeau concurred.
“It’s not a head trip. It’s a heart thing,” she said. “We want to create a relationship with you and the Father, Son and especially the Holy Spirit. We guide that along, talking about the Holy Spirit in their lives.”
Both programs have boomed this year.
For years, St. Edna offered the program in the fall, Crepeau said. Then the parish added a spring session, and this past year, at the urging of area pastors, a summer session was added in hopes of accommodating college students, she said.
In the fall of 2024, 35 people participated, compared to 39 now. In spring 2025, that number jumped to 42, and in the summer, there were 58 participants.
In the archdiocesan program, there were a total of about 150 English- and Spanish-speaking participants in spring 2025, and that was a record, McNicholas said. At that point, she decided to hold separate English and Spanish celebrations of the sacrament to keep them from being too long. This fall, there are a total of more than 270 participants.
“As soon as we created space, God sent more people to fill it up,” she said, adding that two bishops will confirm candidates at the English-language ceremony.
Some of it, she said, is due to the popularity of Pope Leo XIV in Chicago. When she asked if anyone came because of hearing about Pope Leo, “a whole bunch of them” raised their hands.
The ongoing challenge is making sure that, once confirmed, the participants get connected to a parish and continue to grow in faith and in their relationship to the Holy Spirit.
Many do not have parishes, McNicholas said, and may not have even set foot in a church for years.
“This is a lifelong transformation and a lifelong experience,” Crepeau said, adding that she encourages the newly confirmed to not only join a parish, but also to become active in groups like Bible studies or volunteer with various ministries.
“Christ lights the fire, we fan the flames,” McNicholas said. Connecting to a parish is how that blaze will continue to grow.
That glow warms the facilitators as well.
“What a gift it is for me and for the facilitators to be able to accompany these adults,” McNicholas said. “It’s their faith and their spirituality, and you see them come alive in Christ through this process. It’s humbling and it’s inspiring.”